https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/22/keir-starmer-green-pledge-2030-energy-bills

Exclusive: Promise to remove almost all fossil fuels from UK’s electricity supply by 2030 may be quietly abandoned over cost

Ministers are considering dropping one of their central green pledges in an effort to keep energy bills down, sources have told the Guardian.

Government insiders say Keir Starmer is prepared to miss his own target of removing almost all fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity supply by 2030 if doing so proves much more expensive than building gas power instead.

The issue will come to a head within weeks as Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, decides how much renewable energy to commission for the next few years. Allies say Miliband is willing to buy less than experts say is needed to hit the 2030 target, if paying for them would push energy bills much higher than their current levels.

Concern is growing in Downing Street that the cost of living is fuelling the rise of Reform UK, which leads national polls and is predicted to take the Welsh Senedd seat of Caerphilly in a byelection this week.[Hehehehe]

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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/oct/22/keir-starmer-green-pledge-2030-energy-bills

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62exx578lzo

Planned airport expansion that would result in hundreds of thousands of extra flights a year could risk the government’s own net zero goals, a committee of MPs has found.

The report from the cross-party Environmental Audit Committee said the government had also “not demonstrated” that the negative climate impact of expansion would be outweighed by the economic growth created.

The government has approved several airport expansion schemes, most recently a third runway at London Heathrow and a second runway at Gatwick.

The Department for Transport said airport expansion plans would “only go ahead if it aligns with our legal obligations on climate change”.

Ministers are expected to announce which of two rival proposals is preferred for the expansion of Heathrow within weeks.

The Gatwick decision could lead to an extra 100,000 flights per year. If Heathrow gets permission to build a third runway, that could mean another 276,000 flights a year, with approval for an expansion of Luton airport also potentially adding tens of thousands.

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Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62exx578lzo

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k04v1kz7ro

A Just Stop Oil supporter accused of spraying Stonehenge with orange powder told a jury he had “no intention to do anything harmful”.

Rajan Naidu, 74, and Oxford University student Niamh Lynch, 22, are accused of using two fire extinguishers filled with cornflour, talc and an orange dye to spray the prehistoric stones on June 19 last year.

They are on trial at Salisbury Crown Court, along with Luke Watson, 36. The three defendants deny charges of damaging an ancient protected monument and causing a public nuisance.

Giving evidence, Mr Naidu said it was “vital” the group got their message across as the planet was in “a climate and ecological crisis”.

Mr Naidu told the court he had “no intention to do anything reckless or harmful in any sense” to the “sacred” monument.

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Article continues at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1k04v1kz7ro